Business Builders

Ann O’Dea joins Business Builders for a wide-ranging conversation about entrepreneurship, technology, artificial intelligence, and building a media business at the dawn of the internet.
As co-founder of Silicon Republic, Ann helped launch one of Ireland’s leading technology news platforms at a time when almost nobody was reading news online. Advertisers didn’t believe in digital media, the audience was tiny, and the future of the internet was still uncertain.
Instead of waiting for the market to catch up, she built for where the world was going.
From cycling floppy disks between newsrooms in the early days of digital publishing, to navigating the 2008 financial crash, media disruption, and the rise of AI and the modern tech industry, Ann explains what it takes to build and sustain a niche media company for more than 25 years.
But this episode goes far beyond journalism.
Ann reflects on the emotional reality of founding and running a business - worrying about payroll even decades into entrepreneurship, learning the hard lessons of hiring, and the importance of having a co-founder when building a startup.
She also shares her views on the future of artificial intelligence, technology, and digital media, and why diversity in STEM is essential if we want the best minds solving the world’s biggest problems.
This is a conversation about resilience, curiosity, leadership, and building a business that evolves alongside the technology shaping the modern world.
🎧 In this episode, you’ll learn:
Why Ann launched Silicon Republic when almost nobody was online
What it was like building a digital media startup in the early internet era
The realities of entrepreneurship - even after 25 years in business
Why having a co-founder can make or break a startup
The difference between chasing clicks and building real audiences
How the 2008 financial crisis nearly destroyed the business
Why curiosity is one of the most important traits in journalism and leadership
The risks and opportunities of AI in media and technology
Why purpose matters more than money for long-term entrepreneurs
Why women in STEM are essential for the future of innovation
⏱️ Timestamps
00:00 - The early days of the internet
 01:17 - What Silicon Republic actually does as a business
 05:22 - The realities of entrepreneurship
 12:16 - Why founders should consider having a co-founder
 17:53 - Why niche audiences beat clickbait
 25:36 - Lessons from the 2008 financial crash
 29:32 - Why purpose matters in business
 31:46 - Hiring the right people
 42:49 - The future of AI and technology
 59:32 - Why women in STEM matters
Topics covered:
Entrepreneurship, startup leadership, Silicon Republic, technology journalism, artificial intelligence, AI and media, digital publishing, founders, building a media company, tech industry trends.

John Teeling joins Business Builders for a candid, wide-ranging conversation about risk, resilience, and the 20-year bet that helped revive Irish whiskey. 
When John entered the industry in the 1980s, Irish whiskey had fallen to under 2% of the global market. Consolidated into a struggling monopoly and written off by many, it looked like a declining category. 
Instead of walking away, he built. 
From buying a shuttered chemical plant in Dundalk and installing second-hand pot stills, to navigating bank loan recalls, political pressure, and years without meaningful profit, John explains what it really took to build Cooley Distillery; and why the payoff took nearly two decades. 
But this episode goes far beyond whiskey. 
John shares lessons from decades in mining, resources, and investing, where high risk doesn’t mean high reward, but high probability of loss. He breaks down the difference between risk and uncertainty, why “the Euro is an orphan,” and why unsophisticated investors should never be in speculative markets. 
This is a conversation about long-term conviction, imposter syndrome, stubborn belief, and building businesses that outlast downturns. 
At 80 years old, John reflects on endurance, energy, family, legacy, and what it really means to take responsibility when you persuade others to back your vision.
🎧 In this episode, you’ll learn:
- Why Irish whiskey collapsed - and how it came back
- What it takes to break a monopoly
- The difference between risk and uncertainty
- Why high risk usually means high loss
- How to build a distillery from scratch
- What investors get wrong about speculative markets
- The psychological cost of entrepreneurship
- Why you don’t need to love the product to build the business
- How patience compounds over decades
- What most founders misunderstand about conviction
⏱️ Timestamps
00:00 - Why banks shouldn’t accept uncertainty
 01:23 - Growing up in Dublin and early responsibility
 17:06 - The £1 million target by 40
 24:18 - “A euro is an orphan”
 33:10 - How mining companies are really funded
 46:30 - The failed takeover of Irish Distillers
 58:15 - Buying a plant “for bottles”
 01:00:14 - “I sold women’s knickers…”
 01:02:17 - 20 years before real profit
 01:08:18 - “The value of a half-built hole is zero”
 01:13:16 - Energy, longevity and playing rugby at 60

Evelyn Kelly joins Business Builders for a powerful conversation about rare disease medicine, scaling a global consultancy, and what it really means to build a business with purpose.
From starting at her kitchen table in 2017 with no formal plan, to growing Orphan Drug Consulting from €250,000 to €5 million in just four years, Evelyn shares how she built a specialist pharma consultancy that has helped over 70 companies launch medicines in more than 100 countries.
But this isn’t just a growth story.
Evelyn works in the world of orphan drugs — treatments for rare diseases, many of which affect children. With over 7,000 rare diseases globally and fewer than 10% having approved treatments, she explains the regulatory, commercial and supply chain realities behind getting life-saving medicines to patients.
The conversation explores what most people never see: clinical trial constraints, reimbursement battles across Europe, US pricing pressure, post-Brexit complexity, and the volatility currently hitting the biotech investment market.
Alongside the technical depth, Evelyn reflects on leadership — absorbing hard feedback, building processes that allow scale, being responsible for other people’s livelihoods, and why managing risk isn’t about fear, but about stability.
This episode is a grounded, high-level look at the intersection of purpose and process — and what it takes to build a resilient business in one of the most complex industries in the world.
🎧 In this episode, you’ll learn:
– What orphan drugs actually are — and why they matter
 – How rare disease medicines get from lab to patient
 – Why Europe is becoming less viable for pharma launches
 – The real commercial realities behind life-saving drugs
 – How to scale from €250k to €5m without losing control
 – Why process matters more than headcount
 – The leadership lessons from absorbing difficult feedback
 – How to manage risk without limiting growth
 – Why branding and integrity go hand in hand
 – What volatility in the US means for global pharma
⏱️ Timestamps
00:00 – “We got that medicine to a child”
 01:07 – What orphan drugs actually are
 07:01 – Cystic fibrosis and Ireland’s unique prevalence
 18:12 – Starting at the kitchen table in 2017
 20:20 – Scaling from €250k to €5m
 21:38 – Why process is the key to growth
 26:59 – The BBC story that made it real
 31:16 – Integrity vs selling what clients ask for
 34:36 – Learning leadership the hard way
 38:39 – Leadership for Growth and putting a board in place
 52:26 – Why pharma investment has slowed
 55:07 – Rolling with the curveball
 58:07 – Avoiding burnout as an entrepreneur
🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.
 👇 Full episode link in the comments.

Michelle Walsh joins Business Builders for a grounded, honest conversation about scaling a family business, navigating relentless growth, and learning the hard lessons that only come from being in the arena.
From unexpectedly stepping into a food manufacturing business straight off a flight home, to helping grow RibWorld from €7 million to nearly €50 million in turnover, Michelle shares what it really takes to lead through expansion, crisis, and eventual exit. Over nine intense years, she helped build a 250-person operation supplying major supermarkets across Ireland, the UK, and Germany — all while learning first-hand how easy it is to lose control when growth outpaces structure.
Rather than glamorising scale, Michelle reflects on the summer that nearly broke the business — when booming demand exposed weak controls, poor management information, and the cost of avoiding the “hard stuff.” That experience reshaped how she thinks about leadership, information, delegation, and strategic planning.
The conversation moves through succession in family businesses, the emotional complexity of selling a company built over generations, the stress of private equity due diligence during Covid, and the personal toll of running a high-pressure operation in a volatile industry.
Now working with founder-led and family businesses, Michelle brings that lived experience into advisory — helping business owners step out of operational firefighting, build real management teams, and regain control of the numbers that actually drive profit.
This episode is a practical and deeply human look at what scaling really demands — and why facing the hard decisions early can save you years of pain later.
🎧 In this episode, you’ll learn:
– Why rapid growth can quietly destroy profitability
 – The hidden risk of not having real management information
 – How founders become the bottleneck in their own business
 – Why building a management team is harder than scaling revenue
 – The emotional and financial realities of selling a family business
 – What private equity due diligence actually looks like
 – Why gross margin by customer matters more than revenue
 – The danger of overconfidence in leadership
 – How to step out of day-to-day firefighting and think strategically
 – The importance of facing the “hard stuff” before it becomes a crisis
⏱️ Timestamps
00:00 – The summer that changed everything
 02:10 – Michelle’s advisory work with family businesses
 09:30 – Growing RibWorld from €7m to €50m
 13:15 – Moving factories and scaling under pressure
 29:00 – Losing control during peak demand
 31:00 – Installing systems that track profit daily
 32:20 – Why founders default to operational firefighting
 38:50 – What do you actually want from your business?
 46:06 – Why the family decided to sell
 49:30 – The emotional aftermath of the sale
 52:17 – Private equity, Covid, and extreme due diligence
 56:34 – Why meat is a brutally competitive industry
 1:14:05 – The two biggest problems in SMEs
 1:19:21 – Michelle’s biggest personal leadership lesson
🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.
 👇 Full episode link in the comments.

Philip McKernan joins Business Builders for a powerful conversation about success, identity, money, and the quiet cost of living a life that isn’t fully aligned with who you are.
Rather than framing success as growth, scale, or financial achievement, Philip challenges the idea that more money or momentum will ever resolve a deeper sense of unease. Drawing on his work with entrepreneurs, athletes, and leaders around the world — as well as his own experience of losing everything — he explores why so many people reach impressive milestones yet still feel unfulfilled, restless, or disconnected.
The conversation moves through identity, failure, purpose, and self-awareness, examining how entrepreneurs often over-identify with achievement, postpone meaningful work, and build lives around what they want to avoid rather than what they truly want. Philip also reflects on the role of money, environment, and fear in shaping our decisions — and why most people never bring their greatest work into the world.
This episode is a deeply human look at entrepreneurship as a personal journey — not just a commercial one — and an invitation to stop betraying yourself in the pursuit of success.
🎧 In this episode, you’ll learn:
– Why most people think they want success but actually want meaning
– The hidden cost of not changing when things are “going well”
– How founders over-identify with achievement
– Why money can never fix a misaligned life
– How fear keeps people from their real work
– Why failure can be the doorway to purpose
– The importance of self-relationship for entrepreneurs
– Why environment and place shape creativity and clarity
– How to stop postponing the work that actually matters
⏱️ Timestamps
00:00 – Why entrepreneurs neglect their relationship with themselves
 02:00 – Crisis, crossroads, and waking up too late
 03:18 – Getting ahead of the conversation before regret sets in
 03:35 – Why success isn’t what people actually want
 04:54 – Dying with your best work still inside you
 05:28 – Losing everything and letting go of chasing money
 08:10 – The therapy moment that changed everything
 10:14 – Discovering how much emotion we store in the body
 14:25 – How our life story quietly shapes our decisions
 15:20 – Building a life around what you don’t want
 16:47 – The real estate crash and starting again from zero
 21:12 – Why busyness can’t outrun truth
 25:14 – The cost of not changing
 30:31 – Our dysfunctional relationship with money
 37:13 – Why protecting lifestyle blocks real purpose
 40:48 – The “three mountains” of life and work
 43:13 – Burning the ships and committing fully
 45:56 – Why everything Philip chased was a chase
 50:13 – Success, ego, and the Irish relationship with ambition
 55:12 – Why most people never bring their gifts into the world
🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.
👇 Full episode link in the comments.